mother of God.

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Tuesday, 13 May 2014 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial Feast of our Lady of Fatima (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a truly wonderful and beautiful feast of the Church, honouring the blessed mother of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that is His mother, Mary, who appeared to three children at a village known as Fatima in Portugal, almost a century ago, in which she revealed much revelations of truth to the children, about the faith and the Church and the constant battles it faces daily against the evil in the world.

The revelations of Fatima had been a very popular topic among many of the faithful, and many speculations about its contents had arisen. But most importantly, the truth is that Mary who appeared to the three children foretold the many events that would happen, and did happen in the course of the last one century since the apparition.

The apparition was seen by the three children, but many tens of thousands of other people saw the miracle of the sun and testified to its truth, through which the Blessed Virgin Mary showed the truth of her message, and the urgency of the contents of such message, in the view of the increasing dangers facing the Church of God and the faithful disciples of the Lord.

Our Lady and mother of our Lord had often appeared to us, to mankind to continue to urge us to return to the loving embrace of her Son, and abandon our past, sinful lives, in exchange of a new life anchored upon God’s love. She appeared to the three children at a time of great difficulty, not just for the Church but also for the entire world and mankind.

The first world war was raging when the three children saw our Lady in Fatima, and her appearance occurred just moments before the downfall of the Christian nation of Russia, the Russian Empire, which was overthrown by the Communist rebels and agitators, ushering in a long period of suffering, death and destruction, which we all are very aware about, the effects of which are still felt today.

The Cold war, and the second world war was all indirectly and directly linked to that event, and also to other sad events that had unfolded during the past one century. And the apparition revealed those sad events to the children, who eventually one of them revealed much of the revelations to the Church. This world indeed had been filled with so much violence and evil for much of the past century, and it is therefore ever more urgent that we heed the call for repentance.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to change our ways if we have dwelt in darkness and engage in wicked behaviours and dealings. We cannot be ignorant and continue with our lives as if nothing has happened. We have to commit ourselves to the way of the Lord and listen to the call of His mother, who, as the greatest among the saints and intercessors, and as the one nearest to her Son’s throne, she is our greatest help in this life’s battle against the corrupting nature of sin and evil.

The Lord Himself said that those who do the will of God, and keep as well as understand His precepts will be blessed. As such, that is what our Lady at Fatima encouraged mankind, that is to give themselves to the Lord and dedicate themselves to Him, and to ask His mother for help and intercession during the time of troubles. We must not be afraid to do so, for the mother of our Lord is loving and merciful, and she wants to help us that we may be saved and be reunited with her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have to be profoundly changed in our ways, that in all the things we say and do, we will always reflect the will and nature of our God, and in that, be blessed in all that we do. Let us heed the call of our beloved mother Mary, who appealed to us to reform our ways that we may shun violence and evil, and embrace instead her Son who showed us love in all its perfection through His sacrifice on the cross.

O, our Lady of Fatima, the mother of our Lord and our mother, help us to change our ways and continue to speak to us, just as you had spoken at Fatima long time ago, that we may understand better, how to become loving children of God, and sin no more but live eternally in His grace. O most loving mother, pray for us sinners. Amen.

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Tuesday, 13 May 2014 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial Feast of our Lady of Fatima (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 10 : 22-30

The time came for the feast of the Dedication. It was winter, and Jesus walked back and forth in the portico of Solomon. The Jews then gathered around Him and said to Him, “How long will you keep us in doubt? If You are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered, “I have already told you, but you do not believe. The works I do in My Father’s Name proclaim who I am, but you do not believe because, as I said, you are not My sheep.”

“My sheep hear My voice and I know them; they follow Me and I give them eternal life. They shall never perish, and no one will ever steal them from Me. What the Father has given Me is above everything else, and no one can snatch it from out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are One.”

 

Alternative Reading (Mass of our Lady of Fatima)

 

Luke 11 : 27-28

As Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to Him, “Blessed is the one who gave You birth and nursed You!”

Jesus replied, “Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.”

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Tuesday, 25 March 2014 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Today is the celebration of the Annunciation of our Lord, that is the moment when it was announced to His mother Mary, that she is to bear the Saviour of the world within her. The Archangel Gabriel came to her to announce to her the Good News. Mary accepted the role she was to play in the salvation of the world.

And the moment she accepted her role, by her own words that she as the handmaid of the Lord obeyed all the will of God, then everything fell into place, and Mary became the Mother of God from then on. That was also the moment when Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, upon the acceptance of Mary.

That is why today is chosen by the Church to represent and celebrate the Annunciation, because today, 25 March, is exactly nine months before Christmas, the day when Jesus our Lord was born. Nine months is the time that a baby is in gestation within the womb of the mother. So today, we mark the beginning of our journey of expectation of the Lord at Christmas.

And now we are also progressing through Lent, as we prepare ourselves to remember and celebrate the most holy week in our year, the Holy Week, when Jesus went through the most important moments in His ministry, as He revealed His salvation to all mankind. This we also remember, and we recall His promise, that He will come again a second time, this time to bring eternal happiness to all for good.

Thus, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us heed the lessons we can gain from the Annunciation, in the devotion and obedience that Mary showed through her honest and pious answer to the Lord and in the obedience she showed to Him when the angel broke the news to her that she is to bear a Child, and therefore tp bear a huge responsibility.

But obedience and faithfulness are often not in the list of things that we do. We often follow our desires and thoughts more than recognising and following the Lord and His commandments. And it is very often for us to just pay a kind of lip-service to the Lord in our observation of the faith.

Simple example is, how many of us when we go for Mass, are actually there fully because we want to be with God, and that we want to spend time with Him in prayer and togetherness? How many of us attend the Mass meaningfully and seriously? Do we come to the Mass to seek the Lord? Or do we do so because we want to chit-chat with our friends or to look for someone in the congregation?

Yes, brethren, even something as simple as attending the Mass can be a chore to us if we are not solid in our faith and devotion to God. That is where we can learn from the Mother of our God, in her faith and solid confidence in God, that she accepted the role that had been entrusted to her, to be the bearer of the Saviour, the Christ.

Let us not be like king Ahaz or those like the Pharisees in their faith. Their faith was not genuine and true because although outwardly in words they mentioned and talked about obeying God, but inside their heart they have no God inside of them. They are like empty cans, looking good still on the outside, but inside they are really empty and unsightly.

Our faith in God cannot be like this, brethren, because we have to be sincere and genuine in our devotion, and that means, firstly we have to put our trust in God, but we also have to walk the talk, that is we have to practice our faith and make it living. We cannot just pay lip service to God, but we have to take the initiative and be proactive.

Let us all, brothers and sisters, keep this in mind that Jesus will come again, just as He had come before into this world. So, when He comes again, can we show to Him that our faith is genuine? Can we show Him that we obey the Lord and His commandments as His mother did? If we do so, and are able to show such things, then we will be fine.

May the Lord, whose coming is announced on this day of the Annunciation, continue to guide us, so that we may always walk in His path, never turning left or right. Amen.

 

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Tuesday, 25 March 2014 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 7 : 10-14 and Isaiah 8 : 10

Once again YHVH addressed Ahaz, “Ask for a sign from YHVH your God, let it come either from the deepest depths or from the heights of heaven.”

But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask, I will not put YHVH to the test.”

Then Isaiah said, “Now listen, descendants of David. Have you not been satisfied trying the patience of people, that you also try the patience of my God? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign : The Virgin is with Child and bears a Son and calls His Name Immanuel.”

“Devise a plan and it will be thwarted, make a resolve and it will not stand, for God-is-with-us.”

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Tuesday, 11 February 2014 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, World Day of the Sick (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Marian feast)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I am sure that all of you know the importance of today’s celebration, that is commemorating the Mother of our God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who appeared in an apparition to St. Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes more than a hundred and fifty years ago. Our Blessed Mother Mary appeared to her and showing her concern and care for us all mankind, who are still in state of sin and unworthy of her Son, Jesus our Lord.

Lourdes today had become a very popular site of pilgrimage, besides that of Fatima, another site of major apparition of Mary. In Lourdes, Mary appeared to St. Bernadette and over a period of many days and apparitions, she showed her concern for mankind, and eventually through the act of penance made by St. Bernadette, a clear spring of water gushed out of the ground at the grotto of Lourdes, at the site where Mary showed herself to St. Bernadette.

The water was pure and holy, and ever since then, it has caused many miraculous cure of the sick, those who came and immersed themselves in the water with full faith in God. And this ties in well with another event that we are celebrating today, indeed tied to the miraculous nature of the apparition at Lourdes, that is the World Day of Prayer for the Sick.

Every year many people visit the grotto at Lourdes, now a major pilgrimage place, and there are many different kinds of people who went there. There are the healthy ones, who seek to pray and to have the time spent with God and Mary, His mother, asking for her intercession before her Son for their sins, and there are of course the sick, who come there to seek healing and miracle of Lourdes, to be healed of their afflictions and illnesses.

It does not matter who comes to Lourdes, because everyone indeed are sick, and they seek to cure this sickness be it the sickness of the body and flesh, or the sickness of the soul and the spiritual. They seek to be cured and completely healed from their afflictions, and to be made healthy again in body and in spirit.

Yes, we are all sick, brothers and sisters in Christ, because sin is in all of us, and even the smallest of sins is a black taint upon our souls much like a festering wound seeking to destroy and kill us. Sin is a disease that afflicts not just our hearts, but also that of our flesh and our soul. As long as sin is within us, then we are sick and we are not well.

That is why the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Bernadette that time, to help all of us to seek the cure in God. It is not in the power of Mary herself or in the water that made whoever was cured of their conditions whole, because it was God who made them whole, after hearing the intercession of Mary, who intercede on behalf of those who believe in her message delivered through St. Bernadette and the Church to us.

We have to realise that all of us sin, and many of us make major mistakes and great sins in life, and as long as sin is in us, we are greatly hindered in our way towards the Lord. Worse still is that sin may prevent us from reaching our goal that is the Lord and instead bring us to eternal damnation in hell, for the punishment of our sins.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that all of us seek to understand our faith, and understand what God wants from each one of us. What God seeks from us is actually simple, that is love, devotion and complete understanding of His ways. And we should all show this in our words, deeds, and actions. We should not just have empty faith in God, for empty faith is as good as dead.

And we should always seek to emulate the examples shown by His mother Mary, whose actions are model for all of us who believe in God. Mary is the perfect example of obedience, righteousness, and faith. Follow her obedience to the will of God, and we will be fine. Follow her righteous and upright life and actions, and we will be fine. Follow her unconditional love and faith for God, and we will be fine.

And in Mary too we have a great helper who can help us to reach for the Lord, her Son. She does this in many ways, but first, she prays for us at all times, and intercedes for each one of us before her Son at the foot of His throne in heaven. If only we are to ask her for help, and if only we show our concern at our own sinfulness, then Mary would have gladly helped us and intercede for our sake.

Through what happened at Lourdes too, Mary showed that at times she wanted to play a more direct role in helping to bring mankind closer to salvation and this she did, out of her love for her fellow mankind, still trapped in the quagmire of sin. She prays without cease for our sake, for the sake of all of us sinners still in this world, before it is too late for us.

May we therefore realise the gravity of our own sickness, of our sins and the illness in our souls, that we may seek God’s forgiveness and help from Mary His mother. Let us all also pray for those among us who are sick, and also for those who had yet to listen to God and remained in darkness, that God too may call them out of their afflictions and into good health by receiving Him as their Lord and Saviour.

O Holy Mother of God, our Lady of Lourdes, our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for us sinners, now at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Tuesday, 11 February 2014 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, World Day of the Sick (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Marian feast)

Mark 7 : 1-13

One day the Pharisees gathered around Jesus, and with them were some teachers of the Law who had just come from Jerusalem. They noticed that some of His disciples were eating their meal with unclean hands, that is, without washing them.

Now the Pharisees, and in fact all the Jews, never eat without washing their hands, for they follow the tradition received from their ancestors. Nor do they eat anything, when they come from the market, without first washing themselves. And there are many other traditions they observe; for example, the ritual washing of cups, pots and plates.

So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders, but eat with unclean hands?” Jesus answered, “You shallow people! How well Isaiah prophesied of you when he wrote : ‘This people honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. The worship they offer Me is worthless, for what they teach are only human rules.'”

“You even put aside the commandment of God to hold fast to human tradition.” And Jesus commented, “You have a fine way of disregarding the commandments of God in order to enforce your own traditions! For example, Moses said : ‘Do your duty to your father and your mother,’ and : ‘Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.'”

“But according to you, someone could say to his father or mother, ‘I already declared Corban, which means ‘offered to God’ what you could have expected from me.’ In this case, you no longer require him to do anything for his father or mother, and so you nullify the word of God through the tradition you have handed on. And you do many other things like that.”

Alternative Reading (Mass of Our Lady of Lourdes)

John 2 : 1-11

Three days later there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus was also invited to the wedding with His disciples. When all the wine provided for the celebration had been served, and they had run out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

Jesus replied, “Woman, what concern is that to you and Me? My hour has not yet come.” However his mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” Nearby were six stone water jars, set there for ritual washing as practiced by the Jews; each jar could hold twenty or thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them to the brim. Then Jesus said, “Now draw some out and take it to the steward.” So they did. The steward tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing from where it had come; for only the servants who had drawn the water knew.

So, he called the bridegroom to tell him, “Everyone serves the best wine first, and when people have drunk enough, he serves that which is ordinary. Instead you have kept the best wine until the end.”

This miraculous sign was the first, and Jesus performed it at Cana in Galilee. In this way He let His glory appear, and His disciples believed in Him.

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Tuesday, 28 January 2014 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 3 : 31-35

Then Jesus’ mother and His brothers came. As they stood outside, they sent someone to call Him. The crowd sitting around Jesus told Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are outside asking for You.”

He replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” And looking around at those who sat there, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers. Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to Me.”

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Sunday, 5 January 2014 : Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 2 : 1-12

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in Judea, during the days of king Herod, wise men from the East arrived in Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw the rising of His star in the East and have come to honour Him.”

When Herod heard this he was greatly disturbed, and with him all Jerusalem. He immediately called a meeting of all high-ranking priests and scribes, and asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In the town of Bethlehem in Judea,” they told him, “for this is what the prophet wrote : ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least among the clans of Judah, for from you will come a Leader, the One who is to shepherd My people Israel.'”

Then Herod secretly called the wise men and asked them the precise time the star appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem with the instruction, “Go and get accurate information about the Child. As soon as you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may go and honour Him.”

After the meeting with the king, they set out. The star that they had seen in the East went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. The wise men were overjoyed on seeing the star again. They went into the house, and when they saw the Child with Mary His mother, they knelt and worshipped Him. They opened their bags and offered Him their gifts of gold, incense and myrrh.

In a dream they were warned not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their home country by another way.

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Wednesday, 1 January 2014 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God – Theotokos, World Day of Prayer for Peace (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is a day of many blessings, a holy day, when we celebrate once again the important role that the Blessed Virgin Mary had on the plan of salvation of the world.today we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Peace, but even more importantly for our faith, we celebrate today the Feast of the Theotokos, that is Mary as the Mother of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ.

Theotokos is the term in the Greek language, given since the earliest times of the Church to honour Mary, meaning the ‘Mother of God’. The Church and the faithful had, since the very beginning recognise the special role that Mary played in our salvation. Mary is a lowly and humble woman, but one who was destined to bear the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ, who is none other than God Himself incarnate into man, to be one of us.

Therefore, to believe in the mother of the Divine, Mary, as the mother of God in Jesus, is to believe in the divinity of Christ Himself. Both of these beliefs are completely inseparable in nature. Christ is God just as He is man, He is the Son of God just as He is the Son of Man. We cannot believe in that Jesus is God if we do not believe that Mary is the mother of God.

Of course, in her motherhood of Jesus, this does not make her divine in herself, nor does this make her a goddess, as some enemies of the faithful and the false prophets have proclaimed. As the mother of God, Mary was made preeminent before all the other creations, over all mankind, save her own Son, Jesus, who is God and who existed before all ages, while Mary was created just as any other men and women.

Yet without Mary and her acceptance of the role which she had been given, we would not have Christ in our midst. Even though Jesus is Lord our God and was conceived wholly by the power of the Holy Spirit without human intervention, it was in the womb of Mary that the Saviour gestated for nine months before His entry into the world. It is through womb of Mary that the Saviour was born into the world.

That is the truth about our faith, that Jesus was born into this world as one of us, through Mary His mother, because through her womb, He was born. Many people over time would try to attack this fundamental part of our faith but they did not succeed. They would either attack the divinity of her Son, denying it and claiming that He was merely human and not divine, or by separating the humanity of Jesus from His divinity, and thus claiming that Mary was merely the mother of Jesus the Man and not the Mother of God.

No, brothers and sisters in Christ, we cannot fall into the same erroneous thinking as what was espoused by these people. We cannot deny the motherhood of Mary, who birthed the Lord and Saviour as the Mother of God, not that she is a goddess, just as we cannot separate the humanity of Jesus from His divinity. Jesus our Lord is fully and perfectly human just as at the same time He is also perfectly divine.

Many seemed to think in the erroneous ways because they were misinformed about the faith or misunderstood its true meaning. They failed to understand that in honouring Mary as the mother of God, we do not idolise or make a goddess out of her. We do not idolise or worship Mary, but instead honour her greatly as the blessed one among us, for having been the one chosen to bear the Saviour as He entered this world as a baby.

Mary is our role model, because she is truly obedient to God and she walked righteously in God’s way, without succumbing to the wickedness of the world. She is a person of love, peace, and faith. And that is why we glorify and honour her, as the greatest one among all those that God had created. God made her the first among all of us, so that we too may follow her example and be ever closer to her Son, Jesus.

Today we also celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Peace, which fits perfectly with today’s celebration on Mary as the Mother of God. Our world has forgotten peace and the values of peace, because mankind has given themselves up to the corrupting nature of the world. The world is filled with good things, but unbridled, they also feed our human weaknesses of greed and jealousy. Many of the wars in the past and even present, as well as the conflicts of the future will be fought because of mankind’s greed.

People fought over resources and material goods, and even siblings fought one another for their parents’ properties, often before even the latter’s departure from this world. Mankind always have their wants, and frequently they alwaiys desire more and more, and this is fueled by the world and the evil inside it. Mankind find it hard to satisfy their needs and therefore disregard the love they should show one another, and instead fight for their own benefits.

Wars, conflicts, and fightings are abhorrence of nature, because the devil has planted in us the seeds of division, pitting one man against another. We kill each other because hatred and greed has taken over our heart. We often allow the ways of this world to take us over, rather than to listen to the will of God, which exhorts us to seek peace and to love one another.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, even as we celebrate the coming of this new year of our Lord 2014, we should not forget that in the midst of all the celebrations and rejoicing, we should also seek for the peace and love in this world, that as we all pray for peace, we too lead the way for peace through our own actions, that we truly represent peace, love and harmony in all of our actions, our deeds, and our words.

May this day, the World Day of Prayer for Peace, then be a day where we all as one humanity, may reach out ever closer towards peace, following the examples of our role model in faith, Mary, the Mother of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, in her obedience to God, and her faithfulness in Him, showing it through her loving actions, that we too ought to follow. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Wednesday, 1 January 2014 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God – Theotokos, World Day of Prayer for Peace (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 2 : 16-21

So the shepherds came hurriedly, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby lying in the manger. On seeing Him they related what they had been told about the Child, and all were astonished on hearing the shepherds. As for Mary, she treasured all these words, and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds then returned, giving glory and praise to God for all they had heard and seen, just as the angels had told them. On the eighth day, the circumcision of the Baby had to be performed; He was named Jesus, the Name the angel had given Him before He was conceived.